San Francisco rent increase calculator SF Rent Ordinance (S.F. Admin. Code Ch. 37): RY 2026‑27 = 1.6% (60% × CPI), with 7% banking ceiling and 10% per-notice ceiling.

The San Francisco Residential Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Ordinance, codified at S.F. Administrative Code Chapter 37 and originally enacted June 13, 1979 in response to spiraling Bay Area rent inflation. Two distinct protections: (1) a price-control regime — annual rent increases on covered units are capped at the percentage published each year by the San Francisco Rent Board for the upcoming Rent Year (1.6% for the period March 1, 2026 – February 28, 2027), with a 7% statutory ceiling; (2) a just-cause-eviction regime under §37.9 — covered units may only be terminated for one of fifteen enumerated good causes (non-payment, breach of lease, nuisance, owner move-in, Ellis Act withdrawal, etc.). The San Francisco Rent Board administers both regimes — publishes the annual allowable percentage, hears tenant petitions for wrongful-increase refunds, hears landlord petitions for capital-improvement passthroughs and hardship above-cap increases, and investigates harassment complaints under §37.10B. Penalties include rent rollback and refund orders, plus per-unit civil penalties for repeat violations.

For the Rent Year beginning March 1, 2026 and ending February 28, 2027, the SF Rent Board's annual allowable rent-increase percentage is 1.6%. This is computed as 60% of the percentage increase in the BLS CPI-U for the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward MSA from March 2025 to March 2026 (approximately 2.67%, rounded), capped at the statutory 7% per-year ceiling. The prior Rent Year (March 1, 2025 – February 28, 2026) was 1.4%. SF's annual allowable percentage is the lowest among the three California rent-control regimes the SF Rent Board interacts with: AB 1482 statewide is 8.8% (2026), Los Angeles RSO is 3.0% (RSO Year 2025-2026), and SF is 1.6% (RY 2026-27). The lower SF cap applies to covered units; Costa-Hawkins exempt units (single-family, condo, post-1979 construction) are governed by AB 1482 instead.

Probably YES if you own a multi-unit (two or more residential units) building in San Francisco AND the building's first certificate of occupancy was issued ON OR BEFORE June 13, 1979. The cap-rate provisions apply to the building, with vacancy resetting the rent under Costa-Hawkins. You are likely COSTA-HAWKINS EXEMPT from the SF rent cap (and instead governed by AB 1482 at the higher 8.8% 2026 cap) if: (a) your unit is a single-family home, (b) your unit is a condominium that was lawfully separable when sold to a bona fide purchaser, OR (c) your building's first certificate of occupancy was issued AFTER June 13, 1979. Even if Costa-Hawkins exempt from the SF cap, the SF just-cause-eviction protections of §37.9 may still apply, and the SF Rent Board's harassment rules under §37.10B always apply. Substantially rehabilitated buildings, government-subsidized units (HUD Section 8, public housing), qualified-nonprofit-owned units, hospital/dormitory units, and BMR (below-market-rate) regulated affordable-housing units are excluded entirely from the rent cap.

California Civil Code §827(b) governs all residential rent-increase notices in California — the SF Rent Ordinance does not displace state notice rules. The notice must be IN WRITING and must state the amount of the new rent, the effective date, and the unit address. For increases of less than 10% — which the 1.6% (2026-27) SF allowable always is, even when combined with banked unused increases up to the 10%-per-notice ceiling — the notice takes effect 30 calendar days after service. For increases of 10% or more (only possible by combining banked increases up to the per-notice ceiling), the notice requires 90 calendar days. Service must be per Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §1013 — personal delivery, or post-and-mail (add 5 days for mail), or substituted service. The SF Rent Board does not prescribe a specific notice form, but conservative practice is to include the Rent Ordinance citation (S.F. Admin. Code §37.3(a)), the Rent Year (e.g. RY 2026‑27 = 1.6%), the prior rent, the percentage increase, and any banking calculation if banked increases are being combined.

S.F. Rent Board Rules and Regulations §4.12 permits a landlord who SKIPPED OR UNDER-APPLIED an allowable annual increase in a prior Rent Year to BANK the unused portion and combine it with a future Rent Year's allowable increase. For example: a landlord who didn't raise rent at all during RY 2025‑26 (1.4% available, none used) can bank 1.4% and combine it with the 1.6% RY 2026‑27 allowable for a single 3.0% notice. TWO HARD CEILINGS apply: (a) the total stacked annual increase imposed in any one Rent Year may NEVER exceed seven percent (7%); (b) the total cumulative increase imposed in any single notice may NEVER exceed ten percent (10%). Banking does not permit a second rent increase within any twelve-month period — the once-per-12-months rule under §37.3(a) still applies. The notice should identify the banking calculation explicitly: which prior Rent Years' unused increases are being applied, the math by Rent Year, and the total cumulative increase. A notice that stacks banking above 7%/yr or 10%/notice is unlawful and the tenant may petition the Rent Board for a refund.

The San Francisco Rent Board takes the percentage change in the BLS CPI-U for the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA metropolitan statistical area, all items, not seasonally adjusted, measured March-to-March. It multiplies that percentage by SIXTY PERCENT (60%) and rounds to the nearest tenth of a percent. The result is the annual allowable rent-increase percentage for the Rent Year beginning the upcoming March 1. The Rent Board publishes the figure each year in January or February, before the new Rent Year begins on March 1. The result is statutorily capped at 7% per year under §37.3(a)(1)(B) — but the cap has not been triggered in the modern era because Bay Area CPI inflation hasn't run high enough that 60% of it would exceed 7%. For Rent Year 2026‑27 (effective March 1, 2026), the figure is 1.6%, derived from approximately 2.67% Bay Area CPI growth March 2025 to March 2026.

On a LEGAL vacancy (voluntary tenant move-out, lease expiration without renewal, or a just-cause eviction under §37.9), the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act (Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1954.50–1954.535) permits the landlord to reset the unit's rent to market for the next tenancy. The 12-month one-increase clock and the annual allowable cap then apply going forward to the new tenancy starting from the new market rent. Vacancies caused by UNLAWFUL eviction (§37.9 violations), tenant harassment under §37.10B, owner move-in evictions that fail their statutory requirements (e.g. owner doesn't actually move in within 3 months, or moves out within 36 months without a relative replacing), or violations of the Ellis Act re-rental restrictions under §37.9A do NOT qualify for the Costa-Hawkins vacancy-reset. The Rent Board can order rent rollbacks to the prior tenancy's lawful rent and impose civil penalties. Conservative practice on owner move-in or relative move-in evictions is to document occupancy with utility bills, voter registration, and property-tax homeowner-exemption filings.

A rent collected above the SF allowable cap (or above the banking-stacked 7%-per-year or 10%-per-notice ceilings) is unlawful. The tenant may file a Rent Board petition for a wrongful-increase determination under §37.8. The Rent Board can order: (a) rent rollback to the lawful rent going forward; (b) refund of the unlawfully-collected portion (plus interest in some cases); (c) ongoing rent overcharge findings that block future allowable increases until cured; (d) per-unit civil penalties for willful violations; (e) referral to the City Attorney's Office under §37.10A for repeat or pattern violations, which can pursue civil penalties up to $1,000 per violation per day plus injunctive relief. Tenants can also raise the overcharge as a defense to an unlawful-detainer (eviction) action for non-payment. The SF Rent Ordinance does NOT have an attorney-fee-shifting provision in tenant petitions, but tenants prevailing in court actions under the harassment ordinance §37.10B are entitled to attorney fees and statutory damages.

It depends on coverage. For a covered SF unit (multi-unit, pre-June-13-1979 building), the SF Rent Ordinance's lower allowable percentage (1.6% for RY 2026‑27) controls under AB 1482's local-preemption rule (Cal. Civ. Code §1947.12(b)(1)(B)) — the stricter local rule applies, so the SF cap governs and AB 1482 is preempted. For a Costa-Hawkins exempt SF unit (single-family, condo lawfully separable, or post-June-13-1979 multi-unit construction), AB 1482 governs at the higher 8.8% (2026) statewide cap UNLESS the unit meets one of AB 1482's own carve-outs (most commonly: single-family-home owned by a natural person, not an LLC/REIT/corporation, where written notice of exemption was given to the tenant). For a 2011-or-later building in San Francisco, AB 1482's rolling 15-year new-construction exemption may exempt it from AB 1482 too, leaving the unit subject to no rent cap at all (just Cal. Civ. Code §827(b) notice rules). The SF just-cause-eviction provisions of §37.9 may still apply to Costa-Hawkins exempt SF units even when neither rent cap does.